Life-saving device for street-cars.



W. H. MARTIN. LIFE SAVING DEVICE FOR STREET CARS.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 8,1909. I

991,160. Patented May 2,1911.

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W. H. MARTIN. LIFE SAVING DEVICE FOR STREET was. APPLICATION FILED OUT.8,1909. 991, 1 60, Patented May 2, 1911.

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WILLIAM H. MARTIN, OF GEYSEBVILLE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOGEORGIA 1V1. LEE, OF GEYSERVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

LIFE-SAVING DEVICE FOR STREET-CARS.

cameo.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Geyserville, in the county of Sonoma and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and Improved Life-Saving Device forStreet-Cars, of which the following is a full and complete description.

My invention relates to safety devices for the front end of street cars,and is designed to take the place of the difierent kinds of fenders nowin use, such as drop scoops, tilting scoops, wheel guards, drop aprons,etc.

My object is to provide a street car with means to prevent any person orobjectsuddenly or unexpectedly run upon by the car, from being violentlythrown to the ground and run over.

Another object is to provide a yielding buffer for first engaging anyobject whatsoever that may be run upon by the car.

Other objects will appear in the subjoined description.

The invention, among other things, comprises a drag suitably heldnormally in raised position at the front end of the car, and arranged tocooperate with a yielding buffer which, when it comes in contact with anobstruction, acts as a trigger to release the drag which is then droppedto the ground'in front of the obstruction, while the yielding buffer, asthe car advances, pushes the object forward and lifts it onto the drag.

The invention consists in certain novel parts and combinations, as willbe hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a street car provided withmy improvements, the full lines showing the devices in lowered position,and the dotted lines in their raised position. Fig. 2 is a frontelevation of a street car, showing my device as it appears thereon inits raised position, i. 0. when out of action. Fig. 3 is a sectionalview of the drag and canvas reef on its supporting frame when in raisedposition. Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the drag with part of the canvasreef torn away to show a part of the roller. Fig. 5 is a fragmentaryskeleton view more clearly illustrating the manner of supporting thedrag when in inoperative position. Fig. 6 is a view in elevation,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 8, 1909.

Patented May 2, 1911.

Serial No. 521,781.

of the reef-supporting roller, and the dragsupporting portions adjacentthereto. Fig. 7 is a top view of the drag and its supporting roller witha part of the reef torn away. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the spring 19 inits casing, and Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the same.

The yielding buffer or trigger 2 carrying the roller 3 at its lowerside, comprises an approximately rectangular frame 2 filled in withscreening or other light, and more or less yielding, material 2 asclearly illustrated in Fig. 2. This buffer 2 is pivotally supported bythe pair of springs or brackets l secured to the corner posts at eitherside of the front end of the car, said springs being connected with thecrossrod 2 of the frame 2 of the buffer, which arrangement permits thelower end of the buffer to be swung back and forth, preferably throughan arc of approximately 45 degrees, as indicated in Fig. 1, when comingin contact with an obstruction. held in its forward position, asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, so that when it strikes anobstruction it may swing backwardly to the position shown in full linesin the same figure.

The rock shaft 12 is suitably supported in a horizontal position at thefront end of the car by the bearings 11 which are secured to the cornerposts of the car above the springs 1. On the outer ends of the rockshaft 12 the grooved pulleys 13 are rigidly mounted, and the arms 14 arefirmly secured to these pulleys to rotate therewith, and with the rockshaft 12. These arms 14: are connected to each other near their outerends by the cross bar 10, and are adapted to swing upwardly into avertical position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, which is theirnormal position when not in action; and when in action they aresupported in a horizontal position by the stay chains 15, which hangslack when the arms 1-1 are in their vertical position. A horizontalroller 16 is mounted at the outer ends of these arms 14, and this rollercarries a canvas reef 17 adapted to wind and unwind upon the roller, theinner end of the reef being suitably secured to the roller. The outerend of this reef is provided with a drag constructed of a number ofslats 18, left free at their rear ends to permit them to move up ordown, as occasion may require, to compensate for The buffer 2 isnormally any unevenness that may chance to be in the roadway.

The manner of attaching the reef to the slats is clearly illustrated inFig. 7. In this figure and also in Fig. 8, it will be seen that there isa strap 17, preferably of metal, secured to the drag on the outside ofthe canvas, which strap holds the slats suitably spaced from each other.

The roller 16 comprises a central shaft 16 .on which are mounted fourround Wooden disks or wheels 16*, and upon these wooden disks wirenetting is wound to form the roller. This roller is clearly shown inFig. 6, which figure also shows the pins or bolts 1 1 carried by thearms 14 to form a support for the drag when in raised position.

The reef can be very conveniently secured to the screen roller 16, bymeans of sewing.

When the arms let drop to their horizontal position the weight of thedrag will cause it to rapidly drop to the ground by gravity, unwindingthe canvas reef as it falls. The length of the canvas reef is such as topermit the drag to move backwardly toward the car into the positionindicated in Fig. 1, with the rear end of the drag in close proximity tothe roller 3 at the lower end of the buffer.

The points at which the buffer 2 is secured to its supporting springs 1,may be considered as approximately the fulcrum points .of the buffer.Centrally secured to the upper side of the buffer above its fulcrumpoints is'the chain 1 which passes over the pulley 5, on the rock shaft12, and has its lower end attached to the weights 6, which normally restupon a projection of the platform of the car. The chain 1 is of suchrelative length that the weights 6 operate through it to pull the upperend of the buf fer inwardly to cause the lower end to always occupy itsforward position under normal conditions.

The tripping levers 7 are pivoted at their centers 7 to the front end ofthe car, at either side of the weights 6. Each of these levers ispivoted at its inner end to one of said weights 6, and at its outer endto one of the vertical locking bars 8, which move up and down in theguides 9. From the construction shown it will be seen that when thebuffer 2 is in its forward position, the

weights 6 will have moved the locking bars up sufficiently for theirextreme upper ends to engage the cross bar 10 of the arms 14, andthereby hold said arms locked in their vertical position,as shown inFig. 2.

The chains 20 are secured at their upper ends to the grooved wheels 13and are then passed down around the inner grooves of the double-groovedpulleys 21 which are secured to the bottom of the car, and thence to thesprings 19, preferably located underneath the car, to which springs theother ends of said chains are secured. The springs 19 are provided withsuitable shields 19. WV'hen the locking bars 8 are moved downwardly outof engagement with the rod 10 by the rearward movement of the bufier ortrigger 2, and thereby release the arms 1 1, the springs 19, throughthese chains 20, will cause the arms 14 to swiftly descend to theirhorizontal position.

The arms 22 are pivoted at their rear ends to the bottom of the car, andat their forward ends carry a large horizontal roller 23, adapted whenin its lowermost position to roll. upon the .car track, and throughfrictional contact with the roller 3 to rotate the same when said roller8 is forced back into contact with it by meeting an obstruction on thetrack. The arms 22 are nor mally held up out of engagement with thetrack by the chains 24, whose upper ends are attached in the outergrooves of the pulleys 21, which are rotated by the chains 20 when thearms 1% are moved up and down.

The operation of my device is as follows ;-Normally the parts are in theposition shown in full lines in Fig. 2, and in dotted lines in Fig. 1.Then the car runs upon an obstruction, the buffer or trigger 2 strikesit first, and is moved backward thereby to the position indicated infull lines in Fig. 1, as the car advances. This relative backwardmovement of the trigger 2 operates through the chain 1 to lift theweights 6, which in turn operate through the levers 7 to lower thelocking bars 8 out of engagement with the cross bar 10 of the arms 1 1.This being done, the springs 19 through the chains 20 and the groovedwheels 13' to which they are connected, operate upon the rock shaft 12to cause the arms 14 to swiftly descend to their horizontal position,said arms being suddenly stopped by the stay chains 15 when they reachthis position. The momentum thus imparted to the drag, as well as itsown weight, causes the drag to suddenly and rapidly unwind the canvasreef which supports said drag upon the roller '16, and to speedily dropon the track in front of the obstruction encountered. The drag remainspractically stationary until the reef is entirely unwound, at which timethe car has advanced sufliciently to bring the parts into the relativeposition indicated in full lines in Fig. l, with the roller 3 of thebufler practically at the rear edge of the drag. In the meantime therotation of the rock shaft 12 and the wheels 13 which took place as thearms let descended) has, through the chains 20, rotated the pulleys 21,which have in turn, through the chains 24, dropped the roller 23 ontothe track, and the advance movement of the car has moved the largeroller 23 up into contact with the roller 3, the result of which is thatthe rotation of the roller 3 on the track will, through frictionalcontact with the roller 3, cause the latter to rotate in the directionindicated by the arrow, e. upwardly at its front side), which will keepan object from being drawn under the roller 3 while the buffer, as thecar advances, is moving the object forward onto the drag.

When the car is stopped, the reef is wound by hand upon the roller 16;the arms 14 are then moved to their vertical position, and locked inthat position by the upward movement of the bars 8, which takes placethrough the levers 7, when the return movement of the buffer to itsnormal forward position permits the weights 6 to descend by means of thechain 4, and when the parts are in this position the drag is turnedupside down, and the projecting ends 18 of the two outer slats areinserted under the crossbar 10, with the under sides of said outer slatsresting on the inwardly extending bolts 14*. The bar 10 and the pins 14Eare so located relatively to each other that when the drag is heldbetween them the projecting ends 18 of the two outer slats of the dragpoint slightly downwardly, so that the drag will not be shaken from itsposition by the jarring and jolting of the car when in motion.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. In safety devices for street cars, thecombination with a car of a drag at the front end thereof, normally heldin raised position, and adapted to be dropped upon the track in advanceof an obstruction; a yielding buffer projecting in front of the car inposition to strike the obstruction upon the near approach thereto of thecar and designed to act as a trigger to trip the drag mechanism; saidtrigger bufier being provided at its lower side with a roller arrangedto come into close proximity to the drag when the buffer is moved to itsrearwardmost position by an encountered obstacle; and another rollerheld normally in inoperative position near the front end of the car, andadapted to drop to the track and be rotated thereupon and to form a stopfor the first named roller when the trigger buffer is moved to itsrearwardmost position, said second named roller being thus adapted byfrictional contact with the buffer roller to impart thereto rotation inthe opposite direction from that of the second named roller, therebycausing the first named roller to revolve in a direction tending to liftan encountered object onto the drag.

2. In safety devices for street cars, the combination with a car of adrag at the frontend thereof, normally held in raised position, andadapted to be thrown upon the track in advance of an obstruction; atrigger buffer near the front end of the car in position to first strikeobstructions upon the near approach of the car thereto and to preventthem from passing under the car, said trigger buffer extending down nearthe ground and being pivotally secured near its top side to yieldingbrackets, and arranged to normally project forwardly at its lower side;and weights supported upon the front end of the car and connected byflexible means with the top side of said trigger buffer above itspivotal axis in a manner to draw the upper side of the trigger buffertoward the car to cause the lower side of the trigger buffer to projectforwardly.

8. In safety devices for street cars, the combination with a car of dragsupporting mechanism; locking bars for locking said mechanism in raisedposition; a trigger buffer in front of the car, in position to strike anobstruction upon the track, and pivotally secured to brackets at a pointbe tween the top and the bottom of the trigger buffer and arranged toswing forwardly and rearwardly on its pivots; weights supported at thefront end of the car; a rotatable pulley between the weights and triggerbuffer; flexible means connecting the upper side of the trigger bufferwith said weights, whereby to cause the weights to normally swing thelower side of the trigger buffer forwardly and to be lifted from theirsupport by the rearward movement of the lower side of the triggerbuffer; and levers fulcrumed between their ends and pivotally connectedat one end to said weights and atthe other end to said locking barswhereby the upward movement of the weights, caused by the rearwardmovement of the trigger buffer operates to unlock said drag supportingmechanism.

4. In safety devices for street cars, the combination with a car of arock shaft secured to the front end thereof; grooved pulleys rigidlysecured to said shaft; parallel arms rigidly secured to said pulleys torotate therewith on the rock shaft, said arms being adapted to swingupwardly into a vertical position and also downwardly; stay chains forsupporting the arms when moved downwardly into their horizontalposition; a roller supported at the outer ends of said arms; a drag; aflexible connection securing said drag to said roller; said drag beingdesigned to be dropped upon the track in advance of an obstruction;means for locking the parallel arms with the parts supported thereby inraised position; and means carried in advance of the car to contact withan obstruction upon the track, and to automatically unlock said dragsupporting mechanism upon such contact.

5. In safety devices for street cars, the combination with a drag, of adrag support for holding the drag in raised position, said supportcomprising a member adapted to engage the under side of the drag towardone end thereof, and a second member adapt ed to engage the top side ofthe same end of the drag at a point nearer its extremity than the pointengaged by said first named member, said engaging members being arrangedto hold the drag in a position with the end of the drag engaged by thesupports inclined slightly downwardly, whereby to prevent the drag frombeing jarred from its raised position by the jolting of the car.

6. In safety devices for street cars, the combination with a drag, ofrock-arms upon which said drag is supported, said arms being adapted tomove upwardly to hold the drag in its normal horizontal position, and toswing down into an approximately horizontal position to release the dragand to drop it to its lowered position; said rock arms havingsupport-ing means for the drag, comprising a member adapted to engagethe under side of the drag toward the inner end thereof, and a secondmember adapted to engage the top side of the same end of the drag at apoint still nearer its extremity, said engaging members being arrangedto hold said drag approximately at right angles to said supportingrock-arms, whereby when the rock arms are in their vertical position,the drag will be held in a position slightly inclined thereto, and whenthe rock arms drop to their horizontal position the drag will. drop bygravity from between its two supporting members carried on said rockarms.

7. In safety devices for street cars, the combination of a drag; a'roller; a flexible reef secured at one end to the drag and at the otherend to the roller, and adapted to be wound upon the roller; a supportfor holding said parts normally in raised position, said supportcomprising rock arms in which said roller is mounted, said arms havingprojections for supporting the drag to prevent the weight of the dragfrom unwinding the reef from the roller, said projections being adaptedto engage the under side of the drag toward one end thereof; and meansadapted to engage the top side of the same end of the drag at a pointnearer its extremity than the point engaged by said projections, toprevent said end of the drag from rocking upwardly, said projectionsupon which the drag is supported and said means which prevents theengaged end of the drag from rocking upwardly being arranged to hold thedrag in a position slightly inclined to the horizontal.

lVILLIAM H. MARTIN. Witnesses DAVID L. WINDER, R. D. BARTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). 0.

